Cong out to win over Lingayats, to push for separate religion tag

DHNS
July 25, 2017

Bengaluru, Jul 25: The ruling Congress appears to have decided to step up its efforts to woo the dominant Lingayat community: Five Lingayat ministers in the Siddaramaiah Cabinet will embark on a state-wide tour next month to campaign for declaring the Veerashaiva-Lingayat dharma as a separate religion.Basavaraj

Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru on Monday, Higher Education Minister Basavaraj Rayareddi said ministers — Sharanprakash Patil, Eshwar Khandre, Vinay Kulkarni, S S Mallikarjun and himself — will tour the state, meeting community leaders, Lingayat math heads, office-bearers of Ahkila Bharatha Veerashaiva Mahasabha among others to push for declaring the Veerashaiva-Lingayat dharma as a separate religion.

He said once the Lingayat-Veerashaiva dharma is declared an independent religion, the community will seek “minority” status. “What is wrong in that.... Veerashaivas are neither Hindus nor any sub-sect of the Hindus. They are groups that emerged following a movement against casteism, inequality, feudalism and gender discrimination in Hindu society. We must be declared a separate religion and given minority status,” Rayareddi said, replying to a volley of questions from reporters.

The move by the ministers, which comes close on the heels on the demand for an official status to the state flag, is seen as a well planned strategy by the Congress to politically take on the BJP ahead of next year’s elections. The Lingayat community, by and large, is considered to electorally back the BJP across the state. By playing the separate religion card, the Congress is keen to make inroads into the BJP support base, say political observers.

Last week, a section of the Lingayat community took out a rally in Bidar and revived the demand for the formation of a separate religion for the community. They submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who said he was ready to take it up with the Centre if there is unanimity among the community leaders.

However, Rayareddi denied that the move to seek a separate religion tag for Veerashaiva-Lingayat dharma was politically motivated. On the timing of the revival of the demand, the minister said it was just a coincidence and had nothing to do with the Assembly elections. He also denied that the Congress was playing the “Lingayat card” to take on the “Hindutva card” of the BJP and that the minority tag for Lingayat-Veerashaiva dharma will be used to bring the community into the Ahinda vote bank.

Rayareddi criticised BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa for stating that Veerashaivas are Hindus and that Siddaramaiah was trying to divide the community. “Yeddyurappa does not know anything about Lingayats. He follows the RSS ideology which has its foundations in Hindu philosophy,” Rayareddi said.

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iqtidar
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Tuesday, 25 Jul 2017

Innalillahi wa Inna Ilahi Rajiwun, may allah subhanawatala grant him jannatul firdaus

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News Network
March 18,2020

Mysuru, Mar 18: Even though the migration season is coming to end and the winged visitors are set to fly back, the water bodies where most birds nest and breed are under close surveillance with the report about spread of bird flu in Mysuru as unusual death of birds can be a cause for worry and hence the authorities are on high alert.

At Karanji Lake, the birds are watched in detail twice – morning and evening. If any sick bird or dead bird is noticed, the Zoo Vets are alerted. So far, no such birds had been sighted. The surveillance data is maintained every day. Intensive surveillance and passive surveillance is done.

Zoo Authority of Karnataka (ZAK) Member Secretary B P Ravi said the birds are doing well and there is no cause for worry with their health monitored constantly along with tests on the bird droppings done every month at the National Institute of High-Security Animal Diseases in Bhopal.

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News Network
March 24,2020

Bengaluru, Mar 24: Eight new positive coronavirus cases were confirmed in Karnataka on Tuesday, taking the tally to 41 in the state, the health department said.

"Till date 41 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state which includes one death and 3 discharged," the department said.

According the department bulletin, 37 positive patients are in isolation at designated hospitals and their condition is stable.

Of the 41 confirmed cases, six are transit passengers hailing from Kerala who have landed in airports and being treated in Karnataka.

Among the eight passengers confirmed on Tuesday also three men and a woman are from Kasaragod in Kerala with a history of travel to Dubai and Saudi Arabia respectively.

All the four had landed in Mangaluru, where they are being treated.

The others are: two men, aged 40 and 65, from Uttara Kannada district in Karnataka with travel history to Dubai;

a 56-year-old woman, a resident of Chikkaballapura district, who is a family member and co-passenger of person who tested postive with travel history to Mecca, and a 56-year-old woman, resident of Bengaluru, a contact of another person who has tested positive for the virus,

Among the 41 cases, 24 has been reported from Bengaluru, five from Dakshina Kannada, three each from Kalaburgai and Chikkaballapura, two each from Mysuru and Uttara Kannada, and one each from Kodagu and Dharwad.

All the three discharged patients are from Bengaluru, while one death was reported in Kalaburagi earlier this month, which was the country's first COVID-19 related death.

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News Network
January 6,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 6: Former Governor of Karnataka T N Chaturvedi passed away on Sunday late night at a private hospital in Noida.
He was 90.

T N Chaturvedi served as of Comptroller and Auditor General of India from 1984 to 1989. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 1991.

An officer of Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Chaturvedi held several key posts after retirement including Governor’s post of Karnataka and Kerala. He was the governor of Karnataka from 2002 to 2007 and held additional post of Governor of Kerala following death of then Kerala governor Sikander Bakht. He held the post from Feb 2004 to June 2004 and was replaced by newly appointed Governor.

An officer of Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Chaturvedi held several key posts after retirement including Governor’s post of Karnataka and Kerala.

Expressing grief on the demise of T N Chaturvedi Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, in a tweet said, “T N Chaturvedi was an administrator par excellence, towering intellectual and true nationalist and he was known for his erudition, integrity and knowledge. He had an illustrious career in public life and served every role with distinction.”

Even former Union Minister Anant Kumar Hegde condoled Chaturvedi's demise. "Humble tributes to our ex-Governor of Karnataka TN Chaturvedi who passed away last evening. He was an outstanding bureaucrat who was CAG in the 90's before becoming the Governor of our state. May his soul attain Sadgati. Om Shanti Shanti Shanti!" Hegde tweeted.

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